Wine storage means a wide variety of things to different folks. For a friend of mine, it’s a damp, cool spot for 60-or-so bottles in the crawl space of his home. For others it’s a personal wine cave or custom cellar. Only some of these options will allow wine to age properly to its anticipated maturity date. With proper storage, wine can be a fantastic investment. A few bottles of a current vintage from a great producer, if stored properly, will likely improve in quality and value over time and prove a far better investment than purchasing that vintage after it has already matured.What Is Proper Wine Storage? No matter how many bottles you may have there are only certain conditions in which you should store them in order to allow them to age properly. If the wine is currently stored in a closet or, like my friend’s wine, in the crawl space of a home, these storage options may be affordable and readily accessible, but they will most likely not allow your wine to age to its full potential. Regardless of where you choose to store it, make sure the environmental conditions adhere closely to these four guidelines:• Temperature should remain between 55 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit• Humidity should be kept around 65%, relative to the temperature• Limit exposure to ultra-violet light• Keep the bottles horizontal, so the wine stays in contact with the cork and preserves the seal.Furthermore, the storage conditions should be kept constant – frequent or large fluctuations in storage conditions will damage the wine.What Are My Options? Wine storage options range from small to large, both in cost and physical footprint. Wine refrigerators are an economical option that can fit in your house or your garage – they typically cost between $300 and $3,500, and can store 10 to 250 bottles. They will store wine at a constant temperature and in a horizontal position; but they do not offer humidity control, nor can they often accommodate larger champagne, pinot, or large-format bottles such as magnums. Wine caves and even home cellars are larger storage options, both in capacity and physical footprint. The bottles are stored similarly to wine refrigerators, but they offer the added luxury of custom racking systems configured to hold many different bottle sizes. The cost of these options ranges from $4,000 to $50,000, or more, though the compressors and/or humidifiers that control the environmental conditions can wear out and their replacement can add significantly to the cost of ownership. The final option that easily meets each one of these guidelines is an off-site storage facility specially designed to accommodate wine. Most of them offer a variety of storage locker sizes, allowing you to expand as your collection grows, or take advantage of a special bulk-purchase opportunity. Operators typically charge as little as $20 per month for their smallest locker size. You also have the option of installing a racking system suited to your personal collection. Many of them will accept wine shipments on your behalf and store them safely for you, thus eliminating those pesky trips to the FedEx shipping center to retrieve your wine deliveries. Secondary to environmental storage conditions are the creature comforts. Some wine storage facilities offer a comfortable place to gather where you can enjoy a glass of wine with a fellow connoisseur or wine interest group. Other considerations include: access and security. Is your wine easily accessible and available when you need it? Is your wine stored securely under lock and key, or, better yet, under surveillance? The quality of the wine’s security should match, if not exceed, the value of the collection. Finally, if you use a web-based cellar management tool, do you have access to wireless internet where your wine is stored? Hopefully, with these tips you will continue to enjoy your vintages at their anticipated maturity dates for many years to come.
